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Reviews:
Archibald's Swiss Cheese Mountain by Sylvia Lieberman
Arkfall by Carolyn Ives Gilman
The Blunder by Joe Kilgore
A Bell for Adano by John Hersey
The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
The Chinese Orange Mystery by Ellery Queen
The Copenhagen Connection by Elizabeth Peters
Eat, Drink and Be Married by Eve Makis
Forty Days by Jill Smolinski
Four Seasons in Five Senses by David Mas Masumoto
The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton
Hello Piglet! by Muff Singer
Idaho Snapshots by Rick Just
Inside Story by Albert E. Cowdrey
Just Visiting by Nancy Sparling
King, Queen, Knave by Vladimir Nabokov
King of the World by David Remnick
The Last Plague by Glen E. Page
Lifeguard by James Patterson and Andrew Gross
Marvin K. Mooney Will Please Go! by Dr. Seuss
The Mental Environment by Bob Gebelein
Moscow Rules by Daniel Silva
Night Train to Memphis by Elizabeth Peters
Nine Whispered Opinions Regarding the Alaskan Secession by George Guthridge
Peachblossom by Eleanor Frances Lattimore
Picnic at Pentecost by Rand B. Lee
Ookpik by Bruce Hiscock
Quondam by Jayel Gibson
Run! Run! by John Aikin
Salad for Two by Robert Reed
Search Continues for Eldery Man by Laura Kasischke
Shed That Guilt! Double Your Productivity by Michael Swanwick and Eileen Gunn
Small Worlds by Gretchen Laskas
Templeton Turtle Goes Exploring by Ron Pridmore
The Twenty Dollar Bill by Elmore Hammes
The Uncertainty Principle by Lynda Curnyn

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King, Queen, Knave: 09/02/08

King, Queen, Knave by Vladimir Nabokov is one of his earliest novels, written and published originally in Russian in 1928 as Korol', dama, vale and translated and heavily edited in 1968. I read the English translation.

The novel follows Franz Bubendorf's travels to Berlin to work in his "Uncle's" department store. The uncle, Kurt Dreyer, is actually his mother's cousin. He meets his family on the train into Berlin. Martha (his "aunt") and he are instantly smitten and they quickly start up an affair, taking advantage of Dreyer's late nights at the office.

King, Queen and Knave has some of the same elements that I loved in Lolita (1955) but it lacks the refinement of the later novel. Nabovok uses the urban journey to introduce and define his characters, something he perfects in the road trip in the middle third of Lolita. With the affair taking place under Dreyer's nose, there is also the awkward sexual humor. Of course, as all three members are adults, the affair is nothing compared to the relationship between Humbert Humbert and Lolita.

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